Fracture
by Hamilcar
Summary: In 1977, the Nite Owl helped his partner search for Blair Roche. What he found caused a change. So when the Keene Act happened two years later, he didn't quit. Instead, he stubbornly remained with Rorschach on the path down into instability.
1. Chapter 1

~*~

Rorschach sat in Daniel's kitchen and waited for him to come up from the depths. He'd raided Daniel's cupboard again and deliberately made as much of a mess of wrappers and cans as he could. Daniel's kitchen was always far, far too clean for his liking, too distant from his own crowded and cramped but sufficient room.

Dan's house paled in comparison to his basement, however. Down there, despite the darkness, everything gleamed. He'd explained the need for the cleanliness and order to Rorschach the first time he returned, in halting sentences. He'd gone into vicious detail about how messy Grice's place had been, how cleansing he'd felt the fire was. And Rorschach did not deny the impulse for cleansing or that the cleverly crafted weapons he kept down there were useful and brutal.

He understood the gnawing desire to wash away the filth; but so much metal and clean made his skin crawl.

"Rory!" Daniel burst out of the doorway, cheerful as Daniel always was, and threw his arms around Rorschach, making him stiffen, before sweeping away the mess that Rorschach had created. "It's been long since I've seen you. Over a week. What brings you here?"

"A comedian died tonight," Rorschach informed him.

"Really." He stopped cleaned and twisted around, eyes gleaming. "I've been so busy working, I didn't… What are you thinking?"

"Conspiracy. Possibly." He looked up from the sugar he was unwrapping. "Maybe a mask killer."

"Guess I should change my locks, then." He paused and it was Nite Owl who grinned and caught the badge that Rorschach flicked his way. "Tell me what you know."

~*~

_Eight years earlier, Rorschach had told Daniel what little he knew, told him about an address. And he'd been bleeding and they'd worked together long enough that Daniel had persuaded Rorschach to let him check the place out. He was rested and could handle himself, he'd told his partner. He'd let him know as soon as he found something out. _

_Then he'd gone off into the darkness and never quite come back. _

~*~

It didn't take long for Rorschach to relate what little he'd found out, with his partner nodding at all the appropriate places.

"Thanks for telling me first," he said with another grin. "I appreciate it."

"You're a good friend," his gravelly voice growled. "Good partner. Kept it up."

"Well if there's a killer looking for us, I wish you would let me give you something better than that old grappling gun. I can watch your back when we're on a mission together, but when you're roaming the city alone there's nothing but that jacket between you and the edge of a knife or a bullet. Besides, I've learned a lot since making that thing." He tugged Rorschach's arm like a boy on a beach ready to show off a sandcastle. "Come see what I was working on before you came over! I think it'll be something really special when I get the kinks worked out."

He fumbled with a lock and the door to his abyss opened.

"Of course, I'll have to see about my doors first. Silly, isn't it, not worrying about security? I've always kept my secrets from everybody but you, so I never thought I had much to worry about. But the times are changing." He prattled on as he led the shorter vigilante down a flight of stairs. "I'll make sure that you can get in though. Wouldn't want you to starve to death out there."

"Can find own food," Rorschach protested benignly.

"I know, you just like to make sure I have company, right?" Daniel led him over to a bench with metal pieces spread out across it. "When I'm done, it should be able to take out all the lights and electronics in a hundred yard radius. Trying to get it up to more. Useful for sneaking around, launching surprise attacks, all that." He sighed and looked up at the wall. "Still, sometimes I think the old ones will always be my favorites. You know? Like your grappling gun. They have a special place in my heart."

Rorschach nodded with tacit approval at the various, oft-used instruments. He preferred a simpler, more hands-on approach to death, but he appreciated the neat symmetry of the justice the Nite Owl doled out.

~*~

_He saw the remains of the Roche girl through his goggles and it struck him then at how useless all of his gadgets were. Playthings. Nothing more than toys, he was nothing more than an overgrown child in a costume, playing games with other silly people who thought they were tough or hard or clever or had something to prove. It was a ridiculous fraternity. _

_The dogs fought over the bones and Daniel Dreiberg turned and vomited. Then the Nite Owl saw the knives, useful tools, grabbed a cleaver and got to work. The weight of his arm brought down the blade with a satisfying thud, splitting the skulls open like melons. _

_There was dirt everywhere but he intended on cleaning it up. And in the night, the metal glistened and the owl flexed his talons. He sat on the side, watching the building set alight like a phoenix, but with nothing rising from the ashes. Sparks drifted into the sky and he watched them each flame and go out until there were none left. _

_When he got back, he described the scene to his partner, watched the blots shift on his face. He was disturbed by it, upset, changed. _

_But Daniel had fractured. _

~*~

"Should go now." Rorschach pulled his coat up around his ears and walked towards the exit. "Ought to talk to others."

"The others?" Nite Owl frowned. "The others _who?_"

"Adrian. Jon and his girlfriend. If there's a conspiracy, they should know."

"If there's a conspiracy they could be _in_ on it," Nite Owl warned, putting pressure on Rorschach's shoulder with his hand. "That's the idea of a conspiracy. You don't know who to trust. Some of them didn't like Blake. And they definitely don't like _us_."

"Paranoid."

"Keeps us alive. Besides, they'll never listen to you. Adrian thinks he's too damn smart, Jon won't give a shit and Laurie – what was it she called us the last time she was asked to give an interview about unsanctioned costumed heroics?"

"Vicious faggots."

"Exactly." He drifted away from his partner's side and went to go polish one of the metal pieces set out before him. "Why would you want to help somebody like that?"

"Still. Deserve to be warned. Not in my hands. Might not know."

"They'll know. But I can't stop you," he sighed. "Be careful. And let me know if you need help on patrol any time soon. I know my patrolling has been spotty lately, but I've been working on a few other projects too. Talked to Hollis about cars and radio waves and hydraulic systems, got all sorts of ideas." His smile was back. "Sometimes I think I make him nervous, but he still chats. And you'll be really impressed with this, Rory. It'll be better than Archie."

"Hurm." He took a few steps away. "Going to the funeral?"

"No. I couldn't go in a mask and if a normal person showed up, people might start to ask the wrong sort of questions. Besides, I've got better things to do. Don't you?" He began sliding sharp, curved pieces of metal into place.

Rorschach grunted again and slipped off into the darkness.

~*~

_When the Keene Act passed, apart from the government sanctioned heroes, two stayed active illegally. Rorschach sent his notice on the body of dead rapist. Nite Owl used no words and instead went on a three day bender of decapitations and mutilations. Even the experienced cops who found the bodies couldn't help feeling slightly nauseated upon seeing corpses that had been sodomized with some bizarre object that had torn them apart from the inside, caused every vital organ to spill out. _

_Rorschach was pleased. Nite Owl relied too much on gadgets, but he knew what had to be done and wasn't going to put up with being told to stop either. But deep down, Walter was a little bit worried. _

~*~

In the daylight, Rorschach walked past Daniel's house with his sign. There were no external signs that the door was being worked on, but once he thought he heard a clang that might have meant something. When he returned still later, this time with his face on, he attempted to kick in the door but met with resistance that could only be metal. He did hear a shuffling beyond the door and after a few dings and clicks, it opened.

"Warned you I'd increase security, Rory," Daniel said, quickly pulling him inside. "Here, take a key." He pressed a metal object into Rorschach's hand. "I don't want you breaking your leg."

"Saw Moloch today. After funeral. Talked about Blake."

"Well then tell me what he said!" Daniel eagerly pressed him into a chair and sat down next to him, passing Rorschach sugar cubes and listening with the rapt attention of a child hearing a bedtime story.

"Said Blake visited him. Babbling. Something about an island." Rorschach reached for another cube.

"An island?" Nite Owl leaned back thoughtfully. "Anything else?"

~*~


	2. Chapter 2

~*~

_Walter knew something was wrong the moment he kicked down the door. Daniel was still half-dressed in his Nite Owl outfit; it smelled charred and Rorschach could see blood spatter. Daniel did not look up or look worried or come running. He was not tinkering in his basement or puttering in his kitchen or plucking away at his typewriter. He was sitting at the table, in the dark, head in his hands. Unlike Daniel. Daniel did not do that. Then Daniel finally lifted his head to look. _

"_He fed her to his dogs, Rorschach," Daniel croaked, red eyes peeking through fingers. "HIS DOGS!" He screamed and slammed his hands on the table. _

_Rorschach paused. He had no experience in consolation. And he was beginning to feel sick as well. _

"_Too late? I am sorry Daniel. Should not have been late. Should have gone as soon as…" _

"_How could this happen!?" Daniel jumped up and kicked the chair away. "Are we that sick? That it's not enough to poison adults, peddling drugs and spreading disease, to cheat and steal from each other, to shoot each other down in the streets over money and stupidity? How did she deserve this hell, she was a child, I thought it was a ransom case that he wasn't going to… she was a child!" _

"_Am aware, Daniel," Rorschach croaked, watching Daniel's limbs flail like he wanted to hurt something. "Grice?" He asked with a faint hint of hesitation. _

_Then Daniel started laughing. "Grice? That bastard? That… that… filth, sitting in a dilapidated nest of dirt and grime, letting everything get torn apart… you want to know what I did? I cut his fucking hands off and tied him to his stove and I watched him burn." Nite Owl's eyes flashed from behind the glaze of tears. His hands flexed and he grabbed his partner by his trench coat's lapels, slamming him into the kitchen wall, forgetting that Rorschach had gotten wounded earlier. "He earned it! He was filth and I cleaned it, burned it all away and I'll keep burning it all away, the dirt off of everything! They've all earned it! I'm not watching them get off again, they die, they'll all die! I will scrub them off the face of this planet…" Then his eyes widened and he let his partner drop. "Oh God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… God, Rorschach, Rorschach, Ror, Rory, Rory…" He grabbed onto the coat again, but this time in wilting despair instead of anger. "It's all dirt and filth and we're wallowing in it Rory, Rory…" _

"_Did right, Daniel. Too soft before. Both of us. Better like this." Daniel nodded into his chest, but the tears were still coming. Walter could feel them, hear him whimpering. _

"_I need to get to bed," he mumbled and staggered away from Rorschach. He peeled off pieces of his costume – his cowl, his gloves, his belt – and set them carefully onto his chair. "Bed. Yeah." He sounded deflated and empty, slipping past the doorway and into the darkness. _

_Rorschach watched him stumble away, looked at the empty costume, saying nothing. He stood still, waiting as the hands of the kitchen clock slowly turned and clicked. When the hands lined up at twelve, Rorschach trod carefully into Daniel's room._

_He'd thrown himself haphazardly onto the bed, sheets wound and tossed about. The blots on Rorschach's face drifted as he watched his partner, still shuddering in his sleep. He'd forgotten how little of hurt Nite Owl had ever seen. All children had to grow up but that didn't make it pleasant. So Rorschach carefully picked up the downy comforter, draped it over Daniel while making sure not to touch him, then left in silence. _

~*~

"An island?" Daniel frowned. "I don't suppose that Moloch was so good as to tell you where the island was."

"Didn't know. Maybe Comedian didn't say. Could go back. Check. Ask again."

"No. I've seen you interrogate. If Moloch didn't tell you, he didn't know." He played thoughtfully with the front wisp of his hair that never seemed to behave. "Island, island… perhaps he came across it doing work for the government? They would know where he was, what path he was taking. Don't know how we'd get our hands on that information though."

"Could try. Check out facilities."

"Was there anything in his apartment? Papers, tickets, anything to show where he might have been or who sent him there?"

"No," Rorschach admitted.

"Any trail has probably been destroyed," he sighed. "I don't think they would keep records like that lying around. And if they exist, they're probably in Washington. A fool's errand any way you look at it, really."

"Back out, then." Rorschach stood up.

"I understand," Dan nodded. "You know, you said that Moloch mentioned scientists, writers and artists? On that island? Eddie saw something he wasn't supposed to. Probably what got him killed. And something that big, well, that has to leave a trace. Perhaps you could take that angle? I don't know how many bars out there will have people who would know where a painter went, but like you always say, somebody out there has to know something."

Rorschach nodded. "You?"

"I'll take a slightly more direct approach," he said, getting up from the table with a smile. "It's been a while since Archie and I have gone on vacation together. Say, did you ever go visit any of the others?"

"Yes."

"What happened? What did they say?"

He made a sound. "Nothing of consequence. Veidt called him a Nazi. Laurie was upset. Jon teleported me away."

Daniel nodded. It was as he'd expected. "Never mind. We never needed them to operate." He looked at the trench coat. "Say, where'd you get that rose anyway?"

"Grave." He got up. "Moloch left it. Must get back to work now. You will be leaving soon also?"

"As soon as I can get Archie prepped. Take care out there, Rory," he said quietly. "This whole business is starting to get me worried. I don't like it."

Rorschach nodded again, pocketed a handful of sugar cubes and left the Nite Owl to his business. On his way down the stairs, the call button caught his eye and he saw that now the only name next to the buttons was D. Dreiberg. No more neighbors? Only an empty building? He would have to investigate further, ask Daniel when they both got back.

For now, there was more important business to attend to.

~*~

_Laurie continued to scream even after they moved past their discussion of the Comedian._

"_You 'warned' the Nite Owl? You would have done better to leave him alone!" She continued on her tear. "You know, he used to be a nice guy before he got mixed up with you!" She ranted furiously. "Decent. Wanted justice. Wasn't messed up, at least not before you infected him with your damn… before you rotted his brains out with all that garbage you spew! Pulled him into your lunacy, trapped him in your sick little codependent relationship."_

"_Did not hurt him. He saw truth. That's all."_

"_Oh the truth my ass," she growled. "You disgust me, you smelly, filthy…"_

"_I think you ought to go." Jon stepped in and Rorschach knew it was over._

_He was out in the rain all of a sudden, staring into the darkness. With a shrug he moved on, indifferent to all that she had said. She could think what she liked; she didn't know Daniel._

~*~

Daniel took his time getting into his Nite Owl armor, enjoying the feel of putting on his second skin. Sometimes Daniel felt confused or frightened or worried, but Nite Owl knew how to handle the world and its horrors. He knew what to do, what people deserved, wasn't helpless against the crushing, relentless, disgusting waves. Potent. That was the word for it, for the feeling that grew as he put on boots and gloves and goggles.

He fired up Archie with the same sense of deliberation, pausing to feel the engine hum beneath him. He patted the ship's steering column, a moment of affection for an old friend who'd been with him through any number of exploits. Archie was, in a sense, irreplaceable.

But that didn't mean he couldn't make new friends too. He carefully took the ship up and out, maneuvering around the bulk being stored in the warehouse he used to launch Archie. Then the roof opened up, giving him the sky, a gift he accepted gratefully as he rose above the suffocating grime of the city to mingle with the crisp, clear stars.

~*~


	3. Chapter 3

~*~

Laurie walked out with nobody to talk to and nowhere to go. Jon had grown further and further away from her, become frustratingly distant. Working _while _they were screwing? What had he been thinking? And there was nobody from the old days left, nobody who wasn't insane or just as out of touch, if in a different way. She twitched in the cab, tried to think of what she could do.

Eventually she settled for dinner at a rather upscale restaurant. It took most of the money she had left and she wasn't sure how she was going to find a hotel, but she figured what the hell. She needed a little luxury. She _deserved_ it after having to put up with months and months of Jon and his bizarre assumptions about what sexuality should be. Picking a place where she knew they served excellent four-legged chicken, she drank more wine than she knew she ought to and stumbled out into the night tipsier than she'd meant to.

Still unsure of where she was staying and no longer thinking as clearly as she normally did, she decided to take a walk to clear her head. Turning a corner, she found herself in a dark alley. Before she had the opportunity to turn around, the sound of footfalls came from behind. And it was only moments until she was surrounded, being slowly backed up against a wall.

"You can handle this," she whispered, lower than their hearing. "You were well trained, you can handle this."

However, even though she spun into action with the familiarity of battle swiftly returning, her movements were ever so slightly off. There were more of them than she'd accounted for at first and they were landing punches that make her feel like her ribs were cracking. She doubled over, still swinging as best she could, wondering when one of them was going to stick a knife into something important. Then, like a filthy, thuggish Red Sea, they split apart and began screaming. She heard more punches, though she herself was practically curled up into a ball, and after a moment it occurred to her that somebody had come to her rescue.

She looked up to see the faces of two men standing above her, older than she'd expected any would-be rescuer to be but Heaven sent as far as she was concerned.

"Hey," she breathed, taking their hands as they helped her up, "you were in the restaurant."

"Nelly saw you leave and insisted," the one on the left with the mustache muttered gruffly. "Figured something like this might happen."

"Wow. Wow, just… thanks." She sheepishly brushed back her hair. "I appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no trouble," the other beamed. "What with all your mother did for us over the years, it's a small repayment. Not that we wouldn't have done the same for any young lady in trouble."

"My _mother?_"

"Nelly!" Mustache elbowed his partner, hard.

"You're the one using my name!"

"Oh my gosh!" She covered her mouth but the gasp slipped out anyway. "Captain Metropolis? My mother's old photographs… so that means you must be Hooded Justice. But I thought you two were dead."

Nelson blushed. "We did what we had to in order to live in peace and quiet. Being a mask wasn't easy. Having secrets was harder. In the end, all we really wanted was a normal life."

Laurie nodded appreciatively. "I can understand."

"Listen, Laurie, why are you wandering the streets? Shouldn't the government be keeping track of you? I've read in the papers how you're the girlfriend of Dr. Manhattan."

"I don't know what we are anymore," she groaned. "And I… well, I kind of walked out."

"Walked out?" For a moment, the man who was Metropolis looked shocked. Then he smiled gently. "You must be scared. Do you need a place?"

"You mean it?" She looked to his partner. "Are you alright with that?"

"Sally pretended for me and thanks to her I had my relationship and my privacy. Since we're all masks off, apparently, I suppose you could. I don't want an old friend's daughter wandering the streets." He walked towards the sidewalk. "Let's get out of here."

"Thank you again," she gushed. "And you…"

"Rolf," he supplied.

"Thanks for what you did for my mother," she said, and he nodded without needing elaboration.

~*~

_Every once in a while, inspiration seized him like a bolt from the gods and he drew frenzied sketches until he collapsed. And when he would come to, he would work on making those sketches into reality, piece by slick metal piece. He was not Jon and could not conjure out of nothing, but he enjoyed the bracing work that true engineering could be. _

_This time, inspiration had come from pain and the realization that, thick as his armor was, it was not yet thick enough and he could still be hurt. Rorschach, ever in his thin little coat, somehow seemed beyond the pain. But Daniel wasn't. _

_So he needed something better, harsher, stronger, to try and stave off the hurt for a little while longer. The pencil beneath his fingers slid like a blade on ice, guiding by muscle and art, making swirls beneath the tip. _

_And when he woke, he started to work. _

~*~

Rorschach stepped softly into Daniel's bedroom. The larger vigilante was still dozing in an old college shirt and tattered boxers, looking disturbingly normal, beneath the gaze of the dozens and dozens of owls that lined his room. Stuffed owls, owls on plates, owl statues, owl photos and paintings, even a few needlepoint owls. When he was awake, Daniel would joke that his bedroom was his nest.

"Daniel. Must get up Daniel."

"Uhn. Rory?" Daniel flopped over and tried to open his eyes. He failed. "I don't want to."

"Must."

"Rory, I've been patrolling in Archie for nearly two days straight. I couldn't pilot, I can barely think. I need some sleep."

"Manhattan gone." Rorschach threw a paper on the bed. "Last night."

"What do you mean _gone?_" Daniel sprang into lucidity. "Gone where?"

"Mars they say." Rorschach pushed up his mask and started munching a mix of Cheerios and sugar cubes he was holding in his gloved hands. "Two now, Daniel. Comedian and Manhattan."

"You don't need to remind me," he muttered and reached for his glasses, scanning the article as quickly as he could. "Shit. Something's up. Don't like this at all."

"Find anything?"

"No." He growled and handed back the paper. "Archie and I looked and looked but we didn't get anywhere. I tried the South Pacific, but saw nothing that was out of the ordinary. Just miles of ocean." He groaned. "The world is too big and as fast as Archie is, we can't see enough of it quickly enough. If only I had more eyes, more speed, more… I could! That's it!" He stuffed his feet into slippers and grabbed a robe.

"Daniel?" Rorschach gathered up the paper.

"Come on, Rory. I've got an idea." He grabbed keys off his dresser and ran to his basement. "Don't know why I didn't think of this earlier." He ran to his large computer and began pressing buttons.

"You have proof of conspiracy?" Rorschach looked at the screen as boxes popped up one after another.

"I might. I'm going to tap into the Landsats. I'll scan through their feeds and see what they see. Three went down a couple years back but four and five are still good to go. Between them, I'll have seen all I can in less than a fortnight, if it even takes that long. Hopefully that will be quick enough. With Eddie gone and now Jon, it feels like whatever is in motion is speeding up. I'm getting nervous. Not to mention all the talk of war."

"Landsat? Government program, Daniel. If they know you are seeing, they will be angry."

"The government has more than enough to stick a needle in my arm if they ever put two and two together, if they really want to, even without this. And this is important," he said, bringing up two images on the screen. "I only hope the resolution will be enough for me to see whatever it was that Eddie saw."

Rorschach nodded. "And what of Manhattan?"

"Keeping him happy was Laurie's job, not ours. Nothing we say is going to make him change his mind, even if we could go to Mars. It feels like he's being framed but at this point I don't know what we can do about it."

"Find out who is framing? Moloch was mentioned. Could go back. Might not know what he knows."

"Go back… Rory, _no_." Daniel looked away and took his shoulders. "I don't want you going out there again!"

"Duty, Daniel. You know this."

"If someone is really coming after masks, that means they're coming after us. And if I'm supposed to be finding out where this island is, I can't be with you to watch your back. I want you to stay here, Rory, where you'll be safe."

He shook his head. "Do not be silly, Daniel."

"It's not silly! You were the one who was telling me we might be in danger."

"Can take care of self Daniel. As you said, important work."

"Only a few days! Please Rory, just a few."

"May not have a few days Daniel."

"God, don't talk like that!" He plead and didn't know if that helped or hurt. For a moment, Rorschach didn't move and Daniel wondered if he was actually going to listen.

Then he started the long walk down the underground tunnel to the outside.

"Will be back with info," he promised and Daniel sagged. Rorschach's steps faded away and when they had, Daniel slipped off his cloak. He wasn't planning to go outside, but he wanted his armor on anyway.

After adjusting the goggles, he went back to the computer screen, going over the transmissions for any sign of what Blake might have seen. "Much clearer," he murmured.

~*~

A/N: The idea of HJ and CM being alive courtesy of James Gifford and comic panel 1:25:4. That is all.


	4. Chapter 4

~*~

_After sleeping soundly like a rock despite sleeping on a couch and slipping out before anything could get awkward, Laurie had gone to what he supposed was her home and found it buzzing with the activity of military men and suits. Objects were being shifted carelessly and she could see her belongings being thrown about, tossed into barrels and manhandled by men wearing suits designed to protect them from radiation. _

"_Wheres Jon? And stop that! Put that down, those are mine, that was my mothers, I can't get that back!" She protested. "What are you doing to our things? Why are you doing this?"_

_Then they explained. _

"_Jon… gone?" She stared at them stupidly like she couldn't understand their words and her heart plummeted. _

~*~

"I'm sorry," Laurie murmured tearfully when the door opened and Nelson answered it.

"We were wondering where you went," he said without malice. "You left pretty early."

"I wanted to get back to Jon but…"

"I know." Nelson motioned her back inside. "I saw what happened this morning on the news. They've been playing it over and over." He paused. "I'll make sure Rolf knows to keep the television off."

"Is this my fault?" She chewed a nail. "The Russians didn't waste any time, did they? And Jon was already mad because of me. I pushed him to this, oh _God_, and the world is going to end and it will have been my fault…"

"Couples have fights," Nelson said gently. "Rolf and I do all the time. Well, at least _some _of the time they're actual fights and not just… Laurie, you are only human. You can't be blamed for that."

"Not even if millions die?" Her eyes were beginning to water and she blinked to keep it back. "Somehow I don't think humanity is going to forgive me a failure like that."

"Well, we all fail sometimes." He patted her hand. "Remember the first meeting I tried to hold?" He laughed. "Already a has-been but didn't have the sense to know it. Maybe things were out of hand even then. But… Laurie, we don't know what the future holds."

"Jon does."

"Really? Everything?" He reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a box of tissues that he passed to her. "Maybe he does. I don't know him. 'Specially not in the sense you did. But for all his changes he seemed a decent sort. I'd like to think that if he knew the world was going to end, he'd do something about it."

"Maybe." She sniffed. "But he got so distant. Like I was losing him to something else. To what he was or became or… I don't know. He grew so strange, like he hardly knew me."

"We're all afraid of losing our others. In fogs of violence, in duty, to the world, to something beyond our control. But if we really love each other we have to remind each other of why and how we loved to begin with."

Silk Specter managed a smile through her damp, dripping tears. "You're a sweetie Nelly."

"Rolf says that too," he grinned back. "Come on. He's making lunch. Let's get something in you. You'll feel better."

She followed him into the kitchen and saw the imposing, mustachioed man carefully slicing tomatoes for sandwiches. "Thought you left," he said gruffly.

"I did." She gulped. "I came back."

He only nodded and she looked at Nelson for explanation.

"He's glad to pay back the daughter of a friend. But there was an interview a while back and you did say…"

"Oh God!" She gasped. "No, I wasn't talked about you… No, I only meant Nite Owl and Rorschach!" She knew she was blushing. "I suppose it wasn't very sensitive of me. But those two… God, they press all of my buttons. They're the worst in all of us, killing, making everybody scare to death, a couple of regular psychopaths and sadists."

"They're just trying to cope with the ugliness and pain," Rolf interrupted, bringing over a plate of sandwiches. "The same as any of us."

"Want something to drink? Soda? Beer? Milk?" Nelson offered.

"Water's fine," Laurie murmured.

~*~

Nite Owl poured more coffee down his throat and kept his goggled eyes going back and forth between the two screens with the varying satellite feeds. There would be something, there had to be something and he had to find it because time was running out. Rory would be so disappointed in him if he didn't, he'd already fallen asleep once but there was somebody out there who needed punishing.

"Saw Moloch again," a voice behind him said.

"The key worked? You didn't have to break down my door or come in through a window?"

"All your inventions work, Daniel. Here. Getting unemployment checks. Pyramid International. Think might have something to do with cancer list that media leaked." He paused and set a newspaper next to Nite Owl. "Veidt nearly killed too. Shot at."

"_Veidt?_" Nite Owl turned away for a moment.

"Did not die. Beat back assailant. Suicide then."

"Damn it!" Nite Owl pounded his fist on top of the paper. "This isn't going fast enough! I swear…" his voice caught. "I'll keep at it. You have any more leads to track down? Or are you moving onto this assassination thing? I mean, if there was an assassin, somebody had to hire him."

"Thought of that. But Moloch first. Wants to see at 11:30. Him then underground."

"Alright, alright. Keep me informed." Rorschach disappeared without a sound but Nite Owl hardly noticed, his attention kept upon the screens though diverted every few moments by the paper. He scanned the story in between glances, frowning as he went over the satellite images, running them against information databases he'd loaded onto the massive machine, trying to tell if anything was out of place as the minutes ticked by.

Something had to not fit. It couldn't be invisible. Something was wrong. His gaze trailed over to the paper.

"Why," he said to himself, "would an assassin use a gun if he was prepared to die? Why not explosives? It would have made sense. And Pyramid… where've I heard _that_ before…"

Then, far up in space, the cameras slid and everything came into focus.

And the clock neared eleven-thirty.

"Rory!" He grabbed a screen capture then ran to Archie. Who knew how much firepower he would need, who knew what might be waiting, but he had an address and that would have to be enough.

By the time he reached the place, it was in flames and the fighting too intense to fire without running the risk of killing Rorschach. He set Archie on a neighboring rooftop even as the cops were firing at it and then had Archie send out a blinding, billowing cloud of fog. Out of that cloud, he dropped down onto the crowd.

"_Rory!"_ Nite Owl tried to find his way by punching through the bodies.

"Give me back my face!" The piecing scream breached the noise of the cops.

The goggles were some help, but they couldn't see through bodies and Nite Owl had to do his best to mow them down. Amidst the screams and grunts he could hear the familiar squish of torsos being ripped open and organs spilling onto pavement. He caught a flash of red hair and a freckled face that snarled above a trench coat. A cop was taunting his friend, so Nite Owl fired a shot that blew out his knees and the white and black fabric tumbled back into gloved hands. He tried to press his advantage, but there seemed to be more and more of them every moment. Then they threw something that blew up and he was choking, fumbling, getting slower and slower.

He could feel hands reaching to strip him of his weapons, armor, forcing him into a van. A call for his partner ripped out of his throat before there was a crash and everything went dark.

~*~


	5. Chapter 5

~*~

Daniel closed his eyes to try and stave off the headache that was building. When he opened them again the world around him was smudged, a picture taken out of focus. His goggles had been prescription, like his glasses, and without them his world was blurred. Still, he could see well enough to note the psychologist's puffy, dark face staring at him from across the table.

"Now Daniel…" he began.

"Don't call me that."

"Oh. I assume you want to be addressed as Nite Owl?"

Daniel couldn't see his face very well, but from his tone of voice he could guess that the psychologist was smirking. "Don't be stupid. Mr. Dreiberg is my proper name. Only my friends have the right to call me Daniel."

"Very well Mr. Dreiberg. And who are these friends of yours?"

"Friend. Rorschach." He looked down at the table top that was close enough to be in focus. "Rory is my friend."

"Rorschach, your fellow vigilante. Yes, we have a file on him too. I understand he's to be my patient as well."

"No!" Daniel looked up. "Never!"

"And why do you say that? If anything he might need help more than you."

"Rory doesn't need help. I don't need help. And you won't talk to Rory because he's not here." He stuck his chin out. "He's going to save me, you know. We're partners. He'll come, I'm sure of it. Maybe break your fingers. If you're lucky."

Beads of sweat broke out on the psychologist's forehead, but he managed to keep his smile. "You two went down in the same fight. What makes you say that?"

"Prison. It's too quiet. I'd know. People would talk. They talk about me but not about him. He's not here."

"We could be keeping him in solitary."

"I'd know," he insisted.

"Right. So, Mr. Dreiberg, care to talk about this alter ego of yours?"

"No. I don't care to."

"Well why don't you try anyway?" The man wheedled.

A muscle in Daniel's jaw twitched. "You think I'm stupid. Or crazy. That's what you think about both of us, don't you?" He leaned over the table. "I went to Harvard. Did you know that? I have a degree in engineering. A profession where you have to be able to actually _do_ something and make something work instead of sitting back on your ass all day listening to other people talk and then making up stuff about what's wrong with them."

"Engineering. I take it that's where you developed your interest in gadgets?" Daniel stayed quiet. "So when did you begin to make your devices more… damaging?"

Dan stared at his fuzzy but unmoving, unchanging face. Rorschach was not there to help him, he was alone and adrift, and he had not gotten to tell Rorschach that there were horrors in the world that needed their attention. Nobody would believe him, but Rorschach would and he had to know, he had to be told.

"Mr. Dreiberg? You seem anxious."

"Rory's out there. All alone. He might get hurt without me. I'm his partner, I had to help, but now I'm in here and he's all alone." He looked down at the table. "Might starve. I make sure he… but he'll come and it'll be alright."

The psychologist looked at him apprehensively then started to scribble on a yellow tablet. Daniel glared at it; it was probably something stupid and inane, lies about him. He should stop talking. They didn't need to know. He wouldn't talk abut he was so nervous, so anxious… He bit his lip, hard, until he could taste the tang of blood.

"You and Rorschach are close," the psychologist said suggestively. "_Very_ close."

Daniel bristled. "Shut up."

"Latent, repressed homosexuality would explain your particular penchant for certain types of punishment. You're acting out your sexual fantasies in the form of violence since you won't permit yourself to…"

"_Shut up!"_ Daniel upended the table, standing as he did.

"Guard!" The other man squealed, backing away from Daniel.

"You think you can sit there and judge me and get to decide who I am? I know who I am; I know what this world is like. I only give people what they have earned and I only spill the blood that needs to be spilled. Nobody else will do it. Half the cops are corrupt or incompetent, the system wastes time with trials and imprisonments, and the innocent die while all of it happens. I know people like you, the people I grew up with, the people I went to school with. They bandy about words like leniency and mercy, they accept what's happening and resign themselves to it, they blind themselves to all of the pain and the decay.

"Rorschach sees. He knows. And he's coming."

The guards broke in and pushed him against the wall, slapped cuffs over his wrists. Another few moment and the room was vacant expect for the psychologist, still sitting against the wall trying to catch his breath.

~*~

_Moloch had been a trap. Stupid. Should have seen it. He did the best he could once he knew, but it soon became clear that it wasn't going to be enough. Lucky for him that Daniel was still sharp, saw through it. Figured it out somehow. Must have learned something. _

_As soon as he arrived, Nite Owl had wasted no time in mowing people down, silver flashing out from his costume as he cut open the cops who were going after Rorschach. His mask freed from their clutches, Rorschach grabbed it and pulled it back on before resuming his attack. He tried to reach Nite Owl; proximity could be a useful tool in battle. But the cops kept coming. _

_They fired some type of chemical gas at them, meant to slow them down or knock them out. Nite Owl stumbled and Rorschach saw them clumsily applying handcuffs to him. They were counting on the gas to subdue them, distracted by the numbers of their own that had been felled. Sloppy. Letting their guard down. So he let his body go slack, even though the mask kept the worst of it from him, and they shoved him into a separate van. _

_The driver had barely gone two blocks when he felt pressure around his neck. He turned and saw a black and white face looming next to his and, behind that, a group of bodies littering the back. _

"_Oh, shi-"_

_The truck crashed and only one person left the remains of the vehicle, disappearing into an alley before anybody else arrived. There were no other vans on the road; they'd gotten separated. But he knew where Daniel would be going. The question was what to do. _

_Daniel had come in the Owl Ship. But the police had probably surrounded it, if not carted it off. And he didn't know how to fly it very well anyway. They'd captured Daniel so there was a chance they knew who he was. But perhaps they wouldn't figure it out immediately. There might still be time to get to the house. _

_Keeping to the shadows, Rorschach ran._

~*~

The key worked and Rorschach found the house empty. Good. After making sure the house was locked down and the security systems back in place, he went down to the basement to figure out what would be most useful in attempting any type of prison break. Down in the basement, he found a slight mess by the computer, as though Daniel had left in a hurry.

There was a printed out picture on top. Rorschach noted an island with a bay and something that seemed to be swimming in it, something far too large to be normal. There was also a ship that Daniel had circled in pen. Rorschach held it up to his face and squinted. There was a V on the side. He folded up the paper and stuck it into his pocket.

"Dangerous," he growled. "Must retrieve Daniel."

He walked around looking at the artillery Daniel kept. Most of it was going to be rather inconvenient to carry. And he wasn't sure how they would get away from the prison even if he managed to spring Dan. Which meant that getting to the ship somehow would be necessary. Gathering up what he could carry along with a spare device meant to call the ship, Rorschach made his way to the hanger where there would be space for Archie to land.

He set down the weaponry and went to the side panel, pressing a code Daniel had made him memorize that caused the roof of the building to slide away. Moonlight poured through the roof and illuminated white sheets that were covering an object off to the side. Rorschach looked at it, a hulking monolith sitting quietly in the corner. Rorschach grasped the sheets and tugged, sending waves of fabric cascading to the floor.

Blue and bronze shone in the night and Rorschach craned his neck to take in the metal creation.

"Hurm." He murmured before pressing the button that would call Archie home.

Across town, weapons systems fired up and a police garage went up in flames. Then a bird-like ship, more resembling a phoenix than an owl at that moment, lurched upwards and righted itself to go home.

~*~


	6. Chapter 6

~*~

"Not so tough without your girlfriend are ya…"

"…gonna cut you up…"

"…make ya bleed…"

"…looks like a fucking accountant…"

"…'til smelly little buddy gets here too…"

Insults and curses filled the air in a raucous cacophony as Daniel was herded down the hallway, still half blind. Prisoners reached out towards him as the guards marched him to solitary. There had been talk of housing him amongst the general population, but the move was considered unwise when they reflected on his weapons expertise.

"If anyone is going to make a shiv out of something, it's this one," one of the captains had warned. "You wanna see more cops dead? Take a pool on who he's gonna kill first if we give him the chance? Crazy fucker, that one. Kill ya soon as look at ya."

So he moved past those he himself had put in there. They were all older criminals, of course. He had stopped letting them live a decade ago. But time had not dulled the sense of hatred or want of vengeance. Checked by the bars, they spat on him when they could and he grimaced. Filthy. Dirty and filthy, the whole place was coated with scum and grime and sparks danced behind Daniel's eyes as he imagined it getting razed.

They shoved him into the cell, alone and pacing. He sat on the cot and looked at the floor, his mind's eye sketching patterns and plans. Always something new to make, always had to try and keep ahead of things. Come up with something new or you'll get predictable. And any invention could be improved. It just took ingenuity.

When he grew bored of that, his thoughts slid to the pictures he'd seen. He didn't know what the beast was for, but it was not harmless, was meant for something terrible. That was the nature of beasts. Animals were animals and they were not to be trusted. They were indiscriminate in filling their needs and needed to be put down before they attacked and harmed the innocent.

But the V. The V on that boat. It led back to Adrian. So he'd been attacked; so what? He hadn't died. The man was arrogant, Daniel knew. He'd have confidence in his ability to survive an attack. Perhaps the gunman hadn't even known he was meant to die. Daniel had read the accounts. Adrian got to him first. Trying to stop him, or so they said.

Adrian. Adrian. Smug bastard. Smart but smug, thought he was so much better. Parading around in his purple and silk. Decadent and disgusting, Daniel thought. And overconfident. Veidt could show off his body as he pleased. However strong muscles were, metal was stronger. Stronger and beautiful, sleek and clean, full of edges and precision. Daniel rested one hand against the bars of his cell, felt the cool metal and thought on the day he could go back home to his creations.

He would be there soon. He had no faith in God or men. But he knew Rorschach, and he knew he was coming.

~*~

Attacking at night would give best advantage, so after making sure that Archie was home safely and securely he hid his face and went out into the world as usual. From his normal post on the streets with his sign, Rorschach observed all that the police did in an attempt to enter Daniel's building. They had first tried to go through the front door, something Daniel had assiduously warned Rorschach against and that seemed fairly stupid for a bunch of police officers to undertake at the home of a vigilante anyway. It proved unwise; a handful of men got electrocuted badly enough that Rorschach could smell the charred flesh from a block away.

The tried the windows but whatever glass Daniel had in there was resistant to breaking. About that time, as Walter hovered, one of the officers suggested the idea of getting a wrecking ball and just smashing their way in, an idea shot down with titters both about destroying evidence and the fear that he had done something to the bricks like he'd done to the door that triggered who knows what.

From their overheard whispers, Walter gathered that Daniel was refusing to tell them about any other properties he might own or what he might have done with them. So, he learned, they were going to attempt the next best thing. They arrested Hollis Mason on charges of conspiracy.

Walter gritted his teeth and gripped his sign harder when he heard. Leverage. They didn't have any reason to go after the old man save a vague hope that he meant something to Daniel and that Daniel's pity for him would be greater than his cause. It wouldn't be. They didn't know Daniel very well. Daniel would sooner try to solve both problems, even if meant losing, than make an uneven trade.

But he'd wished that his area of patrol had been slightly wider. Hollis' house was not far – he knew where it was, saw Daniel walking to it on occasion. If he had been there, they wouldn't have gotten Hollis. Now, all that he could do was hope to save two owls with one stone.

~*~

"It gets worse and worse," Laurie moaned, looking at the paper while Nelson sweetened her coffee. "Look at this! The Soviet's are on the march, everybody says we're getting closer and closer to war, Nite Owl's been arrested – which would have been good news, I guess, if he hadn't apparently killed an inmate early this morning with the handcuffs he was wearing – they somehow managed to lose his ship, apparently it just flew away on its own to who knows where in the middle of the night, and on top of that, they arrested Hollis Mason!"

"Hollis?" Nelson stopped stirring the dark liquid. "Hollis is our age! He must be in his seventies. What are they doing, arresting an old man, a _good_ man, like that?"

"They say that he should have known about the second Nite Owl and revealed information. That he was a cop himself and should have been more loyal to their fraternity instead of sheltering a criminal. And they're looking for a way to get into Nite Owl's place without setting off any more of the traps he's set or destroying evidence for the case against him."

"Damn micks," Rolf, taking his coffee black, growled.

"Rolf!"

"They're going to take in a good man because they can't do their jobs. Maybe get him killed. Lots of criminals in there. Maybe some he put in, maybe not, but he was a cop. They don't let cops get away."

"This whole thing stinks," Laurie muttered, taking her coffee and throwing aside the paper. "And now Dreiberg and his pal are just egging it on and pulling everybody else into it."

"Dreiberg?" Nelson asked as he sat down with his tea.

"That's Nite Owl II's real name," she said. "Daniel Dreiberg." A filed nail pointed to the mug shot and she scoffed. "I can't believe he looks that boring. Probably was a banker or something."

Nelson took the paper and read the article slowly, twice over. "It seems he attacked the man early this morning when breakfast was being served. The other prisoner slipped out of line and threatened to attack him with a wrench he'd stolen from the shop. Kicked the guards of the way and snapped the guy's neck." He looked from Laurie to Rolf. "Reading this makes it sound like a riot is building inside that place. And Hollis will be in there."

"Nelly, it's a _prison_," Rolf said slowly. "Made of concrete. Fences and guards everywhere. And we're senior citizens. Retired."

"Hollis was one of ours and he was good," Nelson insisted. "He knew about us and didn't say anything, didn't criticize us or embarrass us. He was loyal and a good fighter and he… I hate to hear he got killed. I'd hate to see that happen to one more of us; the thought of it makes me sick."

"And if there was anything we could do, I'd be happy to, but I don't think that there's…"

"We could make a deal with the devil," Laurie interrupted. "Or at least I could."

"What?" Nelson set down his china cup and looked at her.

"The article says they haven't caught his partner yet and that he refuses to talk. Rorschach wouldn't leave him in there. And that ship of his disappeared. It doesn't take a genius like Adrian Veidt to make that connection. And even if the cops are confused, I'll bet he knows some way of getting into that building." She stood up. "I don't really like either of them and I don't know if I'll even be able to find Rorschach. But Hollis was your friend and you guys have done a lot for me over the last few days. I think I owe you this."

"We can come." Nelson stood up immediately.

"Nelson!"

"Maybe we're not in the best shape, but we can patrol! We can help her find Rorschach. She needs to. If not, Hollis might die. And anyway, I think he needs a voice of restraint. Laurie can provide that." He looked into his partner's eye. "You've seen what happens when people get carried away, haven't you?"

Rolf blushed. "I suppose it was too much to hope for that we could die in our beds," he finally sighed.

Laurie nodded. "I'll get my costume."

~*~


	7. Chapter 7

~*~

"So we're going to have another conversation?" Dan sat down and crossed his arms.

"I felt it was important to meet again as soon as possible in the light of your recent incident."

Dan scoffed. "What a spectacular waste of time."

Dr. Long tapped his pencil on the table. "The police tell me that you haven't been cooperative or forthcoming with information."

"I have nothing to tell them. I know now that they were lying about getting my partner. How many did he kill on the way? Did they tell you that?"

"You can be sure that your trial won't go well if you don't give over information now. You're only helping yourself by doing so."

"Trial? Don't be absurd."

Dr. Long sat back. "Did they tell you they brought Hollis Mason in this morning?"

For the first time, Dan twitched. "What business do they have with him?"

"They're charging him with conspiracy. You can see how ugly this is going to become unless you cooperate."

For a moment he saw the brunette seem to waver and Long thought he would talk. Then his face settled into an expression of resolve. "You're all bluffing. And even if you're not, Hollis knows how to handle himself."

"If you would be willing to deactivate the security on your house they might be persuaded to drop the charges against Mason."

"If you weren't a fat, indolent slob with a sham profession I might respect you. Anything else you'd like to futilely add to this discussion?"

More to ease his nerves than anything else, Long flipped to a new sheet of paper. "I'm still working on your pathology. You spoke last time of spilling blood that needed to be spilled. You see yourself as some sort of judge, I take it? Have you always felt this way?"

"Judge? I see problems and I solve them. That's all. And no, there was a time when I thought that I was only helping out as part of a system, as part of something larger than myself. But that was foolish. Blind. We are all alone; or at least most of us are. And that means when a problem has to be solved, you must do it by yourself. You can't rely on anyone else to fix the matter."

Long nodded as if it meant something. "And does Rorschach espouse this same view?"

"He thinks as I do, knows what needs to be done. We learned together. Side by side like we always did."

"Yes, I see that you teamed up very early on in both of your careers. What made you team up with him to begin with?"

"We had similar goals. Similar ranges we patrolled. I… I thought I could learn something from him." Nite Owl looked at the blurry wall, remembering the early days. "I approached him. He hesitated but relented. I was useful to him. I still am."

"Useful. I see. And does he still teach you?"

"He reminds me. Everyday with his mask he reminds me of how we need to be. Reminds me that even in shifting, black and white must be maintained. Can't stop or give up, not ever. We owe it, if not to the world, then to one another."

"You hold yourself responsible?"

"Only for my need to act or failures to do so." He frowned. "It is not a difficult moral code. I don't see why you struggle so much with it. There is evil. Evil should be punished. And so I do. It is a simple equation. You sully your thinking with complications."

Long paused. "Perhaps we should focus on something more positive. Tell me, Mr. Dreiberg, what sorts of things do you like or enjoy?"

"Your little file doesn't tell you? Well, I'll admit to having a fondness for owls. Metal. Indian food."

"Metal? Like music?"

"Metal like iron. Steel. Bronze, even. Cold and beautiful, unrelenting, useful. Clean and shining." He paused. "I like older songs, songs with melody. Not this modern nonsense. Should I list some records I have? Will that tell you what you want to know?"

"The picture is becoming slightly clearer," Long said as he scribbled. "You know, I thought you would be more reticent to talk."

"I was. Then I remembered I wasn't long for any of this so it didn't really matter."

~*~

"Do either of you see him yet?" Laurie spoke into the two way radio.

"Nothing so far," Nelly's voice crackled. "No, wait, I take that back. I think HJ spotted… to your left. A few streets over."

"Thanks. Let's go." A little roof hopping, a mad dash, and she'd caught up with him enough to drop behind him in the alley. "Rorschach!" She hissed.

"Get out," he growled.

Nelson and Rolf showed up a moment later, Nelly puffing from the exertion and looking like he was about to have an asthma attack. "She doesn't mean any harm, okay?" He huffed.

"Hooded Justice?" Rorschach said slowly; he didn't care for most others, but there were some he admired even if it meant contradictions in his outlook.

"Hollis is caught," Rolf growled.

"Know. Will help."

"Not alone you won't."

Rorschach stood still for a moment and the duo watched his blobs shift. "Will hold me back. Too old."

"We can help with the ship!" Nelly protested. "Surely you'll need someone to man it while you go into the prison? Right? Maybe?" He asked hopefully.

"We're coming with you if you like it or not," Laurie said, stepping forward. "Before you and Dreiburg really cause some destruction."

"Nite Owl does nothing unnecessary," Rorschach protested.

"Nite Owl is a sadist!"

"This isn't the time!" Rolf barked and punched the alley wall. "Bicker later! You know where the ship is?" Rorschach nodded. "Then let's go and get Hollis and you can tear one another apart after we're done."

Grumbling, Laurie fell in behind Nelly with Rolf bringing up the rear as they followed Rorschach down into a sewer and from there through a pipe to a large hangar.

"What the hell is all this stuff?"

"Daniel's. Airship is there." Rorschach pointed to a large ovoid machine. "Have key." He lowered the platform with a button from Dan's remote and the stepped inside.

"I can help drive," Nelson offered. "Though I'm not sure what all these buttons do."

"Don't press these." Rorschach pointed to a row of buttons. "Not unless needed. Will press when needed."

"Alright then." Nelly sucked in a breath. "Guess we'd better get this show on the road then, hunh?"

~*~

"Don't I even get a lawyer?" Hollis crossed his arms. "You can't hold me like this, it's illegal."

"Yeah, well, given what you're here for I don't think any judge is gonna mind," a young blond cop sneered.

"Never woulda figured you for somethin' like this, Holl," a cop with greyer hair sighed.

"I promised him long ago to keep his secrets." He stared at the wall, as though it would have the answers. "Even if I didn't agree with his methods, he only ever went after the guilty, the violent. He kept you safer because of what he did. And admit, you let him work. If you'd wanted to, you could have stopped them long before this. He was doing your work for you."

"When he wasn't _killing_ us," the blond shot back. "I had friends on that team that went to arrest Rorschach and got killed by Nite Owl."

"I wonder how that happened." Hollis turned his head. "Do you want me to say I regret this? Alright, maybe I do. But what's done is done." He paused and listened to the echoes coming from further down in the jail. "So tell me, when can I expect to get placed in with the general population?" It was tantamount to asking how much longer he had to live.

"Soon as we can get you processed," the blond sneered.

"If you won't give me my call, I'm surprised you haven't shoved me in there already," he remarked.

"Hollis, you have to know we don't want to do this." The older one walked up to the bars. "Most of us, anyway," he said with a glance to his partner.

"Then why arrest me?"

"Dreiberg isn't talking. We thought…"

"I'm leverage?" His jaw clenched. "Stupid. Daniel won't do anything unwillingly. He does as he pleases. Has for years."

"I'm sorry," the cop whispered.

"Not nearly sorry enough."

~*~

"What about your parents?"

"Not in my file? A housewife and a banker. Didn't care much for what I did but left me everything nonetheless. They're dead now," he shrugged.

"Did your father ever strike your mother?"

"My father never lifted a finger. He was never at home to do so."

"So you were lonely as a child."

"Now you're assuming." He smiled. "I had my birds."

"Yes, your birds." Long flipped through the file. "You seemed obsessed with birds, although it says here you have a history of violence against animals when they're at a crime scene. Dogs in particular."

"They're disgusting creatures. Filthy beasts, will eat anything."

"And yet you like owls."

"Birds are different. Birds fly. They're above the mess and filth that plagues this planet."

"You think this planet is filth." Long chewed on the pencil's eraser before jotting down a few more notes.

"I know it is."

"And yet you still try to save it."

"One does what one must." He lifted his shoulders and let them fall. "It's about the _principle_ of the thing," he said and Long cringed at the tone, unused to being talked down to.

Then a soft wail could be heard coming from somewhere far away and men began rushing about, including the ones who were supposed to be monitoring their session. Long twisted around to look out of the interrogation room's window.

"What's that?"

"My ride. Told you he would come for me. He always comes for me." Long gurgled as he felt a point press into his gut. "Don't do anything stupid. And leave if you can. Otherwise… well, you've been through my file. I'm sure you know."

Long only nodded and watch Daniel walk out of the door and into the hall already echoing with frenzied howls.

~*~

A/N: A rather talk-heavy chapter but there will be more action chapter, promise. Also, if you like this fic, I've got one in the crossover section too (with Marvel comics) that I'm excited about as well. Very Dan and Adrian heavy. So check it out if you like, leave what feedback you please, and I'll update as I can. :)


	8. Chapter 8

~*~

"Find Hollis," Rorschach growled as they burst into the prison. "Your top priority."

"What about you?"

"Daniel. Will need help." He ran down a hall without looking back.

"Christ, look at this place." She clasped her arms to her side. "I can't believe I let him talk me into this." Distant howls echoed and she realized that their initial assault must have done something to the electric, explaining the dimness, the flickering lights. Suddenly cognizant of her aloneness, she ran towards the receiving area, hoping that they hadn't put him in with the general population yet.

Despite the noises she heard all around, Laurie found her job surprisingly easy. The police had run off to deal with the attack – shots were still ringing against the side of the building and she assumed that Nelly and Rolf were still at it – and had left the area guarded only by one lad who, by the look of it, was barely over eighteen. She leveled him with a punch and looked to see a man pressed up against the bars of one of the cells.

"Laurel Jane?" He gripped the bars and looked at her in surprise. "What on earth are you doing in a place like this?"

"Getting you out." She pulled a pick Rorschach had given her from inside her glove. "You didn't think we'd give you up to these animals, did you?"

"I guess you're responsible for whatever that sound outside is then?"

"Actually, that's Rolf and Nelly. Rorschach and I helped find the Owl Ship but we're inside." A final bit of fiddling and the door sprang open. "He's going after Dan. You're not hurt are you?"

"I assumed. And no, they left me alone for the most part, actually. But who are Rolf and… wait. Nelly?" He frowned. "You can't mean Nelson. They're _dead_."

"That's what I said. But unless there's another homosexual couple that owns Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice outfits, then they are." She grabbed his wrist and tugged him along. "Apparently they faked their deaths. But unless we get out of here soon, ours will be very, very real."

"I'm coming," he panted. "Sorry, not as young as I used to be."

"Well, with any luck, we'll both manage to get a little older."

"What about Daniel?"

"Rorschach's going after him and chaos is beginning to break out. Do you really think he needs any more?"

~*~

Rorschach moved through the waves of convicts that occasionally came his way with nothing more than grunts and crack. He had a few of Daniel's weaponry, but was reluctant to use them, as useful as they were. He knew Dan would want them, though. When he finally caught sight of Dan, he could tell that the man had been managing, judging by the bodies surrounding him which formed a trail behind him similar to the one Rorschach had created. They met in the middle and Rorschach held out Daniel's goggles.

"See better now?"

"Much." Daniel adjusted them over his eyes and looked at Rorschach; then his head dropped and his shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry I got caught Rory. I tried to get away. And sorry I got Hollis caught too. You must be so disappointed in me."

"Not your fault. Should have been more careful. Wouldn't have needed you. Hollis will be fine. His imprisonment was scum's fault. Silk Specter getting him. "

Daniel grabbed Rorschach's arms. "I wanna get out of here Rory. You have the Owl Ship? This place is nasty and dirty and it smells worse than the sewer and…" He grabbed Rorschach's grappling gun and fired behind him, punching through the chest of a prisoner and sending the convict's shiv-wielding companion running as he yanked the body towards him in order to get the hook out. "…the food isn't good and I'm sick of the beds here, I think they probably have mites or something. I feel filthy, like I need several good showers"

"Can go home now Daniel. Come."

They made a quick exchange, the now-bloody grappler for a fletchette gun before running down the blood-slick hall. A burly prisoner rounded the corner and came at them, but Daniel hefted the gun and fired a round into his face, sending dozens of piercing needles into the man's cheeks, jowls, eyeballs and neck. He dropped to the floor, screaming first and then convulsing as the needles' poison met his bloodstream. Daniel sucked in a breath; it felt good to have his toys back.

The Owl Ship was waiting for them, still hovering outside the prison and firing at the towers. A ladder extended and they climbed aboard to find the other members of their party, now four with Hollis, waiting for them.

"Daniel! Thank God you're alive!" He mad a move to hug him, but Daniel held out an arm.

"Not in these clothes." He turned. "Get my suit," he asked Rorschach, who nodded, while he began unbuttoning the prison shift.

"Good, we're all here now," Laurie sighed. "Now we can finally get out of here."

"Not yet." Daniel grabbed the outfit and slung it over his arm before heading over to the controls, still in his boxers. "I have to take care of something here first."

"Like what?!"

"Burning it to the ground." He pressed a button and the screechers came back on; another and a series of missiles burst out of Archie's belly and exploded into the concrete walls.

"What the hell are you _doing?!_" Laurie screamed and made a move to grab him, but Rorschach stepped in front of her.

"Don't let her touch me!" Daniel demanded crossly in between pressing buttons and yanking on pieces of his clothing. "I don't want her interfering with this."

"Understood." Rorschach grabbed her wrist. "Can break female fingers even easier."

"Break my… you guys aren't going to stand for this, are you?" She turned to the older generation.

"Daniel, please." Hollis took and edgy step forward as well. "Don't you think this is a little extreme?"

"I don't," Hooded Justice growled.

"Well sweetie, cops are probably in there too. Some of them will likely die if the whole place is destroyed."

"Corrupt ones who deserve no more than their prisoners."

"But where would we be without prisons? And destroying it would be a terrible burden to the taxpayers."

"Then they should have more executions. Housing these bastards is what costs money."

"Now don't give me that, you know that capital punishment is pricey too."

"Only because of appeal and inefficient methods. Streamline the process and…"

"QUIET!" Daniel bellowed. "I need to concentrate."

"What's to concentrate?" Laurie huffed. "You just press your little buttons and shit blows up apparently."

"Evasive maneuvers." He looked out one of the portals. "They sent choppers after us."

"Choppers? Oh my lord, we are going to die." She sank to the floor. "You are going to get us killed, after all that…"

"Didn't have to come," Rorschach growled, yanking her up by the wrist she was still holding. "Hull made of very strong alloy. Build to withstand such assaults. No need to weep like hysterical woman."

The bickering continued so Nite Owl pulled his hood up and pressed a button on the side of it, to better block the sounds. Rather than listening, he looked at the perfect arc of his gunfire, the sparkled of his missiles and the bright warmth of the fire that Archie belched forth, creating a bonfire that lit up the night. Nothing purified like fire, he thought with satisfaction, and fire was what they would get. It flickered out of the windows, licked the side of surfaces, worked its way inside and spread from there until everything was being burnt, being cleansed. The sight was enough to make him sign and shudder in satisfaction, only guiding Archie away when he was sure they could not bring it under control.

Far below, a hefty black man watched the burning and wrinkled his nose as the smell of charring hair and skin. He vomited, lifting his head up just in time to see the Owl Ship flying off into the night; his heart was sick at the thought of where they might be going and what they would do once they were there. All he could do to survive was look away, head home and try to erase the images.

~*~

"What now?" Laurie muttered, crossing her arms and pouting.

"We have to get back." He looked at Rorschach. "It's something to do with Veidt."

"Know. Found picture."

"Adrian Veidt?" Hollis' barking laugh evidenced his disbelief. "Adrian's always been one of the best of us, how could he…"

"There was an island. A ship with his logo on it." Daniel frowned. "There was something else there too, something I need to kill." He turned to his partner. "Rorschach, I don't know how this is going to go down, so when we get back to the garage, I'm going to need you to salvage what you can from the Nest then take this lot to California in the ship."

"We're visiting my mother?" Laurie scoffed. "I don't think so!"

"We need to make sure everybody is in one place and safe!" Daniel snapped. "I'm not entirely sure what he's playing at but there should be some safety in numbers."

"And you?"

"I'll be taking a different form of transport."

"Will not leave you. For them or anybody," Rorschach warned.

"You have to." Dan pressed a button and the roof beneath them opened up for him to lower the Owl Ship. "There's no room for passengers in the ride I'm taking." He gave Rorschach a pleading look. "Please Rory. I can do this alone. I'll be okay by myself."

"Will go confront Veidt, then."

"Not right away. We can do a little research first. Wait for him to attempt to play his hand. Otherwise we might never find out what he was doing."

"Might be too late. Could have backup. Safest if dead."

"And if he dies we may not know if he's set anything in motion," Daniel explained calmly as he set the ship down. "Don't worry, we'll be doing our best to kill him soon enough. Or you will anyway. I suppose if I don't make it back the whole argument is moot; you'll get to do as you decide anyway."

"Don't make it back!" Hollis went over to him as the rest of the group filed out of the ship. "What are you talking about, not making it back? What do you think Adrian is up to anyway, that you expect to die?"

"Did you pick up the picture?" Rorschach nodded. "Then show him."

The shorter vigilante pulled the photo from the recesses of his trench coat and held out the dog-eared photograph, letting Hollis unfold and inspect it. His blots shifted as Hollis' face went pale.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"A monster that I'm going to kill," said Daniel, heading for the exit. "Coming?"

Hollis, still holding the photo, ran down the ramp after him. "And if we're supposed to be heading to California in Archie, how do you plan on killing him? You'll be without your best source of firepower!"

"No, I won't." Daniel flicked on the lights in the garage as the windows closed, causing Archie to glow from the fluorescence. "I've been working on a new toy. I haven't gotten to fully test it out yet, but there might not be much time." He drew a shaky breath. "And it has more raw firepower than Archie anyway." He went over to the tall object, still mostly covered in cloth, and pulled the coverings away. As they billowed to the floor, he looked at his creation in rapture. "Isn't he lovely?"

The metallic creation had a roughly human shape, but with distinctive avian markings. However Daniel had treated the steel it had turned blue, although detailing had apparently been done in bronze. Metal panels his most of the machine's inner workings, but from the number of hatches and pipes, Hollis suspected it was brimming with firepower. The "head" had the approximate appearance of an owl, including the beak, and wide eyes like Archie's which, Hollis assumed, were for looking out of as well.

"Actually the chest cavity is where the operator sits," Daniel explained. "Easier to fortify and defend."

"Oh."

"Do you like him?" He grinned. "I call him X."

"X?"

"You know. As in X the Owl and Henrietta… never mind." He turned. "Rorschach, will you get everybody to safety?"

"Do my best," He grunted.

"Good. Then let's refuel Archie for the trip." He looked at the rest. "Get inside the nest and try to rest a little. I'll see if I can do anything about food, assuming the cops didn't level my place."

They filed into the other room and found walls and surfaces to lean against or sit upon. Daniel watched them before going to connect Archie to the underground gasoline reservoirs that would fill up his copious tank.

"Daniel?" Rorschach still waited, looking up at the machine.

"Yeah, Rory?"

They looked at each other and saw the fear of the other's death and the inability each had to do anything but confront his own. Somewhere war loomed but there was not much that either of them cared about that. All they could see was Adrian and the beast; all they knew was what they could do and never mind what they couldn't. Try to scrub a world clean even if it's too caked in grime to make a difference.

Rorschach came close to Daniel and put his hands on his shoulders. "Thought Daniel was tiger, not owl."

Daniel's mouth dropped at the impossibility of the understood reference, and then he laughed. His arms slipped around Rorschach's frame and squeezed, quickly, before falling away. Rorschach allowed it without comment; he was Daniel and he needed comfort. He'd be heading into the breach and he might not come back. For this, he can allow it.

"I'll see if Nelly will go get takeout; he's one of the few of us who won't run the risk of recognition. Then can you prep Archie while I prep X?"

"Of course Daniel," he nodded, and they silently went about their ways, readying for the end.

~*~


	9. Chapter 9

~*~

The meal Nelson picked up from the Gunga Diner was eaten in a heavy silence that was only interrupted by occasional ringing clangs from the garage where Rorschach and Nite Owl were readying their equipment.

"They're both insane," Laurie muttered as she picked at her chicken. "This can't be right. It doesn't add up. How can it be Adrian? They've both been losing their grip on reality for a long time now. Do you really think we should put our safety in their hands?"

"Just because you lack his suspicion doesn't mean that Rorschach is wrong," Rolf growled.

"His suspicion?" She chewed with a touch of petulant energy. "You mean his paranoia."

"Dan hasn't been all there in the last few years," Hollis admitted, "but he is a loyal sort. I don't think he would endanger us if he didn't genuinely believe there was a risk of some kind."

"And if he's genuinely crazy then that risk isn't there, if this is all a fools errand dreamed up in their imaginations, then what?" She demanded.

"I don't see how a visit to Sally could hurt," Nelson said. "I feel guilty about the way we disappeared like we did. It would be nice to see her."

"And while we're reminiscing about old times, God only knows what he might due to Adrian!"

"Does God know? He might tell you if you ask nicely." Rolf's eyebrows arched. "And I'm sure the man who was Ozymandias can take care of himself. He certainly can if it was him who killed the Comedian."

"_If_ he killed him." She shook her head. "I wish none of this had ever happened. I wish Jon and I were back at the Center, that I'd never even heard of Eddie Blake falling out of a window or Adrian making monsters."

"Well don't let it eat you up," Nelson advised. "And if you really believe you care for Jon, don't wait too long to go after him." He gave Rolf a sideways glance. "Even if you find a happy ending, you always regret the wasted years."

"Maybe," she sighed.

"We're ready. Are you all done?" Daniel stepped back into the room and look at the group with a cold gaze.

"We're done, Dan." Hollis gathered up the trash, even though he worried they were never coming back.

"Then get into Archie. Quickly, now."

"You're out of your mind, I hope you know that," Laurie said as she passed him by. He didn't even bother to look in her direction.

They filed into the ship and this time all discussion died. Each person kept to his own counsel; even Rolf and Nelson exchanged thoughts only through glances. Outside, Rorschach hesitated and looked over to Nite Owl, standing at the foot of the ladder leading up to the vehicles elevated cockpit. He didn't move, but Rorschach knew when Daniel was afraid.

"Daniel." He set a hand on his shoulder. "Are a good man. Nothing to fear. Proud of you. Never gave up, never quit."

"It's dark out there," he whispered. "And there are monsters. And I'm scared of dying." He did not want to admit this, but in his last moments the fright came tumbling out. "If I do it will be alone."

"Do not have to be alone."

"I have to be."

"Then stand by decision. Have always fought monsters. Can kill one more. And do not fear dark." Rorschach takes his hand. "Can walk safely in it. Good man, Daniel. Do not fear. Nothing in the dark to hurt you."

"Promise?" He rubbed his thumb across Rorschach's palm.

"Promise Daniel."

Daniel's arms sprang open and clamped around Rorschach, one final, desperate, permitted embrace. Anything else he had to say, he kept silent. It all transferred to the force of his grasp. Then he turned and scaled the ladder, shut the hatch and waited while Rorschach walked into Archie and took the rest of the masks to a distant coast.

~*~

After her career as Silk Specter, Sally Jupiter couldn't be shaken by much. She thought that her daughter hooking up with a glowing blue atomic bomb was the ultimate shock and that nothing would surprise her ever again. Then an owl-shaped ship landed outside on her lawn (and gave a man in the next building over a more than metaphorical heart attack) and proved her wrong. But no matter how shocked she was, the moment Laurie stepped out, the mother in her took over.

"Laurel, what are you doing flying in that?" She stepped out to scold her. "It looks like a death trap. And couldn't you have called ahead and _told _me you were coming?"

"Sorry, mother," she groaned, getting inside as quickly as she could.

"And you brought company too and left me to meet them in my bathrobe! Hollis? Is that you? You look good and... My God, is that Rolf and Nelly?" She started laughing. "I didn't even think you boys were still around! Well how do you like that, all the old crowd coming to visit me?" She smirked. "It was me you came to see, right?"

"Sure, Sally," Hollis grinned.

"Lawn unwise place to hold reunion," Rorschach growled. "Inside!"

"Loosen up, Inky," Sally chuckled. "Half the people here probably won't even remember this after getting dinner and their meds. Now you're all going to have to tell me what you've been up to in the last decade! Oh, and I'll page the girls and have them bring over something to eat. You've probably had a very long flight. Well aren't you going to stay too? I didn't make you mad, did I?" She called to Rorschach who was already walking back up Archie's gangplank.

"Business to attend to. Must hurry. Keep low profile." His face was unreadable but the scorn in his voice came across clearly. "And put clothes on. Best not to meet end looking like tramp."

She flipped him off and gave him a vicious 'screw you' that he was already too far inside Archie to hear.

~*~

For the first few moments, Nite Owl relaxed into the seat and let the feel of his creation wash over him. He knew down to the final gram, to the last square inch how much metal surrounded him, forming a shell that protected him from the world and armed him against its horrors. He looked straight ahead and all around him, to the very corners of his vision, were windows and screens to give him input and feed him information. Lights that revealed various types of data - temperatures, identifications, composition - ghosted over the layers of glass and silicon. His arms slid into the gauntlets he'd designed to steer and operate the weaponry, more unfamiliar than Archie's controls but comforting all the same.

A finger put pressure on a button and the machinery closed in on him. Appendages attached themselves to his head, locked in around his legs and arms. Every movement was designed to make the machine move, every glance to feed him info, every twitch to manifest his power. He patiently waited until Archie had vanished into the night sky then pressed the sequence that brought X to life. All around him, the machine thrummed with its mechnic lullaby and Dan drew breath like he was about to leap off a precipice. A series of vicious clangs broke the air, taking him upwards and into the night. He saw the sky above him, felt himself rise into, a larger self now made of alloy and air.

Then he looked down to the earth and lifted an arm for X's first true test. He set his home in its scope, already drawing spectators and sirens from across the city, police making a twinkling path in their cars to his door. He needed to hurry; helicopters wouldn't be an obstacle but they would annoying. First things first, though, and it was imperative that they never got a true hold on his nest. Better to destroy it than to allow others to have it.

And so he did, with a device that penetrated, through the roof, to the very ground floor of the building and sent concussive shocks that made it implode while his neighbors watched.

After that, it was an almost clear flight. The coast guard threw up a few airborne roadblocks, but he knocked them aside like toys. Once over the water, he sped, holding straight to his course. Another time he might have reveled in the speed of his creation. But the destination was his only thought, drawing closer as he moved over the endless blue through clouds and air, feeling the pull of the island and the nameless creature that waited there.

He was almost a hundred miles off when he first felt the unsettling feeling in the back of his mind start to grow. He drew closer, saw the people - Adrian's people - sailing on the boat. He swooped in low enough to see them celebrating on the deck like the mindless idiots they were. Then, after he'd passed them, he heard the ship explode. He didn't much care. His facial identification system had read a few of the faces, enough for him to know the world had lost little with their deaths, only mindless liberals and intellectuals, artists and libertines.

Then the tarp came into sight, a package to deliver to the beast's master. The pull was stronger now, uncertain. He couldn't hesitate, everything had been for this. His right arm extended and a series of missiles sprayed out. The first hit the creature and a wave washed over Daniel.

_Sitting in the grass at night watching an owl swoop overhead. Standing in front of a building at night watching it burn. _

Another button, a blade extended, he flew down close, vision blurring, sliced a tentacle off. A wave of pain and misunderstanding.

_Feathers in hand, stroking them with wonder. Father's laughter. Blood in hand, dripping off palms. Screams and barks then crackling flame. _

Tentacles flared, tried to latch to the metal. Large enough to crush, flashed needed to be exploded, sheared off. Get height again, get above, swoop back down. More blades, and fire too. Flesh started to blister and smell. A beak snapped. Panic now, rolling waves of it, and ever increasing pain.

_Studying at school. Isolated in passions. Naivete before his partner. Uncertainty. Fumbled explanations. Times alone. Dangerous.  
_

Hinges of the suit, necessary for movement, let in drips of blood and bile. Dan's stomach twitched convulsively, emptied itself onto his front. Sense of direction gone, blind attacking, anything, everything. It was dying piece by piece but it was breaking and breaking him with it, breaking and breaking, but breaking something already broken.

_A child cried and a man laughed and blood covered them both. The child held out a hand and a glove took it and everything became black and white and then red all over and he had to shoot and kill and burn and tear until everything was..._

The water bubbled as the pieces sank below. The metal collapsed into the corrosive salt water, half on the beach and half below the surf. Lights dimmed, water stilled.

Finally, everything was quiet.

~*~

A quick remark on the last chapter (because several reviews asked about it), the Daniel/Tiger, X/Owl references are to Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.


End file.
